Universiti Malaya students today warned the management not to stop an event involving PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim scheduled for next Monday, ahead of his Federal Court appeal.

The Universiti Malaya Students' Association (PMUM) said the university, as a public institution, belonged to all Malaysians who should be allowed to hear Anwar speak.

PMUM president Fahmi Zainol said it was inviting Anwar to speak at the event “40 years: from University of Malaya to prison”.

“The event marks Anwar’s journey from his days as a student here in Universiti Malaya to his present predicament,” Fahmi said in a statement today, referring to Anwar’s final appeal to the Federal Court against his sodomy conviction.

“We are extending the invitation to Anwar to address the students,” he said of the event to be held at the Dewan Tunku Canselor Square next Monday at 9pm.

Fahmi said UM belonged to all Malaysians, hence if there was any attempt to stop the event, all Malaysians would be invited to enter the campus grounds.

“This is not just a question of justice for Anwar, but it also involves the students’ freedom which is stated in the spirit of academic freedom.

“UM students support the principle of academic freedom and humanities. We intend to spread this principle to overcome the boundaries of political ideologies, race and religion.”

Fahmi said public universities were built with taxpayers’ funds and it would be wrong for the management to prevent non-students from joining the event.

The Dewan Tunku Canselor Square was also a public area, Fahmi said.

“The event is not only open to UM students, but to all Malaysians and foreigners to participate. Let us find the truth together,” he said.

The federal court is scheduled to hear Anwar’s appeal on his sodomy conviction on October 28 and 29.

On March 7, the Court of Appeal overturned his sodomy acquittal by the High Court two years earlier.

The appellate court found Anwar guilty of sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan 26, at a unit at the Desa Damansara condominium in Bukit Damansara between 3.10pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.

Anwar was sentenced to five years' jail but was granted a stay of execution, pending an appeal to the Federal Court.

The nation should look beyond race and all citizens should be allowed to feel that they are legitimate Malaysians, respected and not have their positions questioned, opposition leaders said today.

PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia might be the only nation that still obsessed with its history and how its multiracial fabric came to be.

He said other free and democratic countries have accepted all that as reality.

“(For instance, in Malaysia’s case) how Bahasa Melayu was picked as the official language of the federation is accepted by the people. But we cannot question people’s background.

“In countries like the United Kingdom and United States, I know of a congressman who had to resign for calling African-Americans Negro and questioning their position and history,” he said at Penang deputy chief minister II Dr P. Ramasamy’s Deepavali open house in Batu Kawan.

Anwar, who is opposition leader, was commenting on a recent remark by a Johor Gerakan delegate that Malays were also "pendatang" (immigrants) who came to Malaysia from Indonesia.

“Let us not talk in a way that offends others. Why must we talk about ‘pendatang’? What’s the issue here?”

Anwar urged Putrajaya to be firm on this matter and not just speak about being multiracial, multi-religious and rejecting extremism.

“This is because those who support extremism are those who support the present (federal) government… Umno and what they outsource to NGOs (non-governmental organisations).”

DAP secretary-general and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said no one should bring up the label "pendatang".

He said it was Pakatan Rakyat's and the Penang government’s stand that “we are all Malaysians, regardless of race”.

“Don’t anyone talk about ‘pendatang’… we have never spoken of such a thing. It is our diversity that makes Malaysia unique.”

Lim said if action was to be taken against those who used the term, everyone who had made such remarks should also face the consequences.

“Don’t just act against some people. Take action against everyone who made the remark.

“We all know where it all started,” he added.

Gerakan delegate Tan Lai Soon was suspended by his party in a move to set an example for all other political parties.

It was not the first time the "pendatang" remark was made. In 2008, Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail made the remark to describe Chinese Malaysians who came to Malaya as immigrants during the British colonial rule.

The remark infuriated the Chinese and caused a serious rift between Umno and Gerakan in Penang. A Sin Chew reporter was detained overnight under the Internal Security Act for reporting what Ahmad had said.

Ahmad was then suspended from Umno and stripped of his party post for three years. He has since returned to politics as well as his old Bukit Bendera division chief post.

In May this year, Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia president Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman also courted controversy when he described the Chinese as intruders brought in by the British. He is facing a sedition trial over the remark.

Meanwhile, Anwar said his programmes in Penang, Perak and Kedah during Deepavali had to go on because he has “very limited time before his case on October 28″.

“If the court goes by principles of the law and facts, then I am not a bit worried. I will be given my freedom.

“If there are orders otherwise, then it may be a long time until we all meet again. I will speak on this in my ceramah tonight,” he said, wishing Happy Deepavali to those celebrating the festival.

When asked if PR would give Hindus two days public holiday should it take over Putrajaya in the future, he said it was more important to give the community the recognition it deserved.

“That should be our priority. The public holiday would not matter much even if we give three days, but continue to offend and sideline the communities in the estates."

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said there are bigger problems in the country than the recent “I Want to Touch a Dog” which he said has been turned into “a national issue that threatens the nation”.

“There are Muslims who are involved in gambling firms and beer companies. A minister’s family member has a multi-million ringgit security labelling contract for liquor and beer.

“Have the ustazs said anything about this and about big shots who consume alcohol?” he said at a “Rakyat Hakim Negara” gathering in Seberang Jaya last night.

The ‘I Want to Touch a Dog’ event in Bandar Utama last Sunday drew more than 1,000 people including Muslims, but its organiser Syed Azmi Al-Habshi has since become a victim of abuse online and even received death threats.

The event, which was aimed at helping people to overcome their fear of dogs and to understand canines better, infuriated religious authorities, with some Muslims condemning it as an attempt to insult the ulama (clerics).

Anwar said he was asked on Twitter if he supported the act of Muslims touching dogs, which were regarded as ‘unclean’ animals.

“I said no. If (a Muslim) wants the touch a dog, just ‘samak’ (cleanse) after that. What is the big problem?

“A national issue that threatens the country is now young people (Muslims) wanting to touch dogs?”

Anwar joked if Muslims would also have trouble touching money previously in the hands of the Chinese who eat pork.

The crowd burst into laughter when he asked if he should do ritual purification for touching Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

“He hugs me whenever we meet so do I have to ‘samak’ after that?”

At the event last night, Anwar, who is PKR de facto leader, told the crowd that it could be his last ceramah for a long time if his sodomy appeal at Federal Court on October 28 does not succeed.

Anwar was sentenced to five years jail in March on a charge of sodomising his former aide, after the Appeals Court overturned an earlier acquittal by the High Court.

The Permatang Pauh MP said he spurned offers to live abroad to avoid persecution because he wanted to set a good example to youths and show them the struggles that were needed to bring change in the country.

“If it is necessary in order to raise the awareness of youths, then I will face the test,” he said.

“They think if I am in jail, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will crumble but it won’t. It will rise up stronger to fight Barisan Nasional (BN)…that is our oath.”

Referring to 1998 episode when he was assaulted under police custody resulting in a black eye, Anwar said he hoped the incident would not repeat.

“Before I was jailed, I didn't believe I would be beaten. But I was assaulted and they said I had beaten myself up,” he said.

The gathering had a slow start due to heavy rain, but the ceramah went on and the crowd grew larger.

PAS central committee member and Parit Buntar MP, Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa (pic, right), said the struggle was not about Anwar but about justice for all Malaysians.

“Whether Anwar is freed or jailed, PR’s struggle will continue,” he said, adding that the coalition had seen and survived tough times by solving their issues, and would face future tests calmly.

Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general, said if Anwar is jailed for five years, "we will wait for him".

"There may also be a wave of reformasi nationwide, which can help get him out sooner," he added.

Meanwhile, Mohamad (pic, left) described the recently-tabled Budget 2015 as good but its implementation “penipu” (a sham).

This, he said, was because there was no mention on the expenses for prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife’s trips overseas, among others.

“Problems of corruption, misappropriation, power abuse will continue,” said Mohamad, also known as Mat Sabu.

He said Indonesia had bigger corruption problems but its government had jailed eight ministers, and before new president Joko Widodo appointed his Cabinet ministers, their names were sent to the country’s anti-corruption body for vetting.

Mat Sabu said television channels in the republic gave air time to presidential candidates from rival parties.

“In Malaysia, the opposition hardly gets coverage on TV,” he said, adding that Najib was getting unpopular and reforms only could be possible under PR.